By Wes Schwengels Guest reviewer East Bay punk rock trio Green Day has come a long way since its major-label debut, Dookie, shot up the charts 16 years ago. Now the band is joining the music video game craze with… Continue Reading →

]]>By Wes Schwengels
Guest reviewer
East Bay punk rock trio Green Day has come a long way since its major-label debut, Dookie, shot up the charts 16 years ago. Now the band is joining the music video game craze with the release of Green Day: Rock Band.
In the same vein as 2009'sThe Beatles: Rock Band, this game features the likenesses of Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool, looking different at three stages of their career together. You'll play through 47 of the band's tracks, including the complete Dookie and American Idiot albums. Those who have downloaded the six Green Day tracks from the Rock Band music store will also be able to complete the 21st Century Breakdown album, as those songs are recognized by this game. None of the band's major studio releases is skipped, with at least two songs from each record. All tracks are exportable to your hard drive for a $10 fee, meaning you can play them with your Rock Band or Rock Band 2 disc as well.
As with most Rock Band and Guitar Hero band-specific releases, how much you enjoy this game will depend on how much you enjoy the band it's based on. People like me, who have heard Green Day's singles and have fond memories of Dookie, will have a blast playing those tracks but will likely find themselves slogging through the majority of the later albums. All swear words -- and Green Day has sung a few of 'em -- are also noticeably censored, something that's understandable but seems a little jarring while playing.
Still, the game will be a treat for real Green Day aficionados. Just as was done in The Beatles: Rock Band, players will be able to unlock 100 photos of the band, ranging from humorous, candid shots to sweaty, on-stage stills. Earning more stars will also open up a series of challenges, which provide the opportunity to unlock 40 minutes of video by the trio. Most are live performances of Green Day's biggest hits; others are brief clips from interviews with the group. The videos, some of which have never before been published, are entertaining and expand the replay value of the game.
Gameplay will be familiar to anyone who's picked up a plastic guitar, with one minor tweak: The game's "No-Fail" mode is automatically turned on for anyone playing on the Easy level, a nice touch. The game follows a linear timeline, starting out in a fictional Bay Area warehouse. Here, you'll play the entirety of Dookie. The band's members are properly punked out, colored hair and all. The game's makers did a good job getting the characters to look like their real-life counterparts, though Armstrong isn't nearly as twitchy here as he was at the microphone during Green Day's early years. From there, the band moves to London's Milton Keynes National Bowl, where it filmed footage during 2005's American Idiot tour. This was around the time Green Day began regaining popularity with a younger crowd, switching from punk rock T-shirts to a wardrobe worthy of Hot Topic. The third and final venue in the game is Oakland's Fox Theater, where 21st Century Breakdown is played.
While certainly more difficult than Rock Band's Beatles effort, there's no song in this game that even approaches being impossible. If anything, the toughest songs in Green Day: Rock Band are thrown at you early, during the Dookie set. The more balladic later albums are largely a cinch. Most players will have the game mastered within a handful of days, though, as mentioned, the unlockables will keep them strumming even after the credits.
In all, Green Day: Rock Band is an enjoyable if minor addition to the Rock Band catalog. But unless you love Green Day with an unhealthy passion -- or just can't wait until this winter when Rock Band 3 is supposed to be released -- it's only worth a rent. At $59.99, there's not enough rock here to justify the cost, at least until the price drops by $20 or $30.